“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Colossians 2:8-15 ESV)
Now the context here is that we are being instructed to make certain that the gospel message that we are hearing and accepting is the full gospel message as taught by Jesus Christ and by his NT apostles, and that we are not being taken captive by any other gospel being promoted as the true gospel of Christ. And the gospel that Jesus taught says that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands or we do not have salvation and eternal life in him (see Luke 9:23-26).
In the verses following in this chapter, the subject matter is that of the Judaizers who were trying to convince the Christians that they had to be circumcised and that they had to follow some of the Old Covenant ceremonial laws, which included the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath and certain restrictions as to what foods they were not allowed to eat. But chapters 1 and 3 spell out for us what true faith in Jesus Christ looks like according to the gospel message that Jesus and his NT apostles taught.
So, if we are to see to it that no one takes us captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, and not according to Christ, then we need to learn to identify what is of human tradition versus what is according to Christ. And it is the Scriptures, taught in their context, that define for us what true belief in Jesus Christ should produce in our lives in order for it to be the faith which saves, and in order for it to be according to Christ and not according to human tradition or human philosophy.
And this is critical that we understand this and that we apply to our lives what is being taught us here, for there are many people who are teaching a diluted and altered gospel message which does not require us to die with Christ to sin and to walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For they are putting that in the same category with what the Judaizers were trying to push on the Christians. They are calling that legalism and works salvation, and so they are convincing people to reject the true gospel.
So, we have to watch out for these distortions of truth which are being promoted as truth, but which are coming from human philosophy and vain conceit rather than coming from God and the purity of his word. We especially need to be on guard against Scriptures which are being taught out of context and made to say what they do not say if taught in the proper context. And this is happening BIG TIME in “the church” and on social media and in movies and TV shows and even in what are called “revivals.”
So many people are taking liberties with the gospel of Jesus Christ these days in order to make it more acceptable and appealing to human flesh. I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but it seems to have become very popular in our culture here in America right now to claim faith in Jesus Christ. But what many are teaching and proclaiming is not biblical faith but a diluted and altered faith based on a verbal profession of faith in Jesus without the requirement of dying to sin and walks of obedience to God.
And there are those who have all kinds of excuses for why, even though they profess faith in Jesus Christ, they cannot “walk the walk,” even though they have no trouble talking it when they want to. And I am certain that the excuses must vary from person to person, but they are still excuses for why they cannot do what Jesus said to do in order to have salvation from sin and eternal life in him. And some will cast the blame on others, but in reality they have no one to blame but themselves. For God’s way is perfect.
For the gospel taught, even in just the book of Colossians, teaches us that we are to walk (in conduct) in a manner worthy (fitting) of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, for he has delivered us from the domain (power, control) of darkness (sin, Satan) and transferred us to the kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our bondage to sin so that we might now serve our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living.
Once we were doing (practicing) evil deeds, for if our faith is genuine we should not continue to practice evil deeds. Once we were like lost sheep going astray, walking in sin and in rebellion against our Lord and against his commands. But by faith in him we were reconciled to God, i.e. we changed from walking in sin to now walking in holiness and purity of devotion to our Lord, by his grace and in his power, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on that cross. But we must continue in that faith, not shifting from the gospel truth.
For, as those who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, we are now to put to death in us all that is earthly – all sexual immorality, impurity, evil desire, idolatry, lying, cheating, stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and the like. These we are to put out of our lives and we are to put on the truth, righteousness, godliness, moral purity, faithfulness and obedience to our Lord, by the Spirit, in the power of God. And via Jesus’ death on that cross he has made the way for us to do just that, so that there are no excuses!
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Full Release
An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
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